Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up!

Steely Dan, Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live (UMe)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

The first Steely Dan live album since 1995's Alive in America, Northeast Corridor was recorded on the group's last tour at venues including New York's Beacon Theater, The Met Philadelphia, and others.  (The band's nine-show Beacon residency in 2018 featured themed shows including performances of full albums, a "By Popular Demand" night, and more.)  The single-disc set of 12 songs (of course abbreviated from a typical tour setlist) features songs off Can't Buy a Thrill ("Reelin' in the Years"), Countdown to Ecstasy ("Bodhisattva"), Pretzel Logic ("Rikki Don't Lose That Number," "Any Major Dude Will Tell You"), Aja ("Black Cow," "Aja," "Peg"), The Royal Scam ("Kid Charlemagne"), Gaucho ("Hey Nineteen," "Glamour Profession"), and Everything Must Go ("Things I Miss the Most"), plus a cover of "A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry."  The Norman Gimbel/Frankie Laine/Irving Reid tune was recorded by Arthur Prysock, Chuck Jackson, and Joe Williams, among others.  Northeast Corridor arrives today on CD/digital and October 1 on vinyl.

The Steely Dan Band, Donald Fagen's The Nightfly Live (UMe)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Donald Fagen's 1982 solo debut The Nightfly picked up where his work with Steely Dan left off, albeit with a more autobiographical lyrical bent.  The recording by producer Gary Katz, engineer Roger Nichols, and mixing engineer Elliot Scheiner took full advantage of early digital capabilities to bring Fagen's sly, jazz-pop compositions to life.  The album yielded the hits "I.G.Y." and "New Frontier," netted seven Grammy nominations, and was certified Platinum in the U.S. and in the U.K., as well.  Now it's returning in a start-to-finish live performance by The Steely Dan Band from 2019.  Available today on CD/digital and October 1 on vinyl.  Get the track listings for both Steely Dan titles here!

Carrie Underwood, My Gift: Special Edition (Capitol Nashville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Last year, Carrie Underwood released her first Christmas album.  It reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 Country and also topped the Christmas and Christian charts.  Now, My Gift is seeing an expansion with three bonus tracks: "Favorite Time of Year" (previously an Amazon Original exclusive), a cover of Michael W. Smith's "All Is Well," and "Let There Be Peace/Something in the Water" from Underwood's HBO Max holiday special.  Target has an exclusive edition with a poster.

Al Green, Give Me More Love: The Orchestral Greatest Hits (Fat Possum) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Previously available as a Record Store Day-first LP and now out on CD, Give Me More Love is in the tradition of the recent series of overdubbed orchestral albums.  In this case, it adds an orchestra to Green classics such as "Let's Stay Together," "I'm Still in Love with You," and "Take Me to the River."

Sex Pistols, 76-77 (UMC) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Sex Pistols' 76-77 rounds up the short-lived band's material recorded prior to Never Mind the Bollocks with over 80 alternate versions (eight of which are previously unreleased) on four CDs.  Out today in the U.K. and next Friday in North America.

Various Artists, The Show Time EP Collection: Volume Three (Stage Door Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Stage Door)

Stage Door Records concludes The Show Time Series EP Collection, collecting RCA Victor's 1953 series dedicated to highlights from classic musicals, with this volume featuring 20 tracks from five musicals.  The shows heard in this volume are: Anything Goes (Cole Porter); Kiss Me, Kate (Cole Porter); Porgy and Bess (George and Ira Gershwin/DuBose Heyward); Girl Crazy (George and Ira Gershwin); and The Little Shows (various songwriters).  Helen Gallagher, Lisa Kirk, Jack Cassidy, and Edie Adams are among the performers.  Read more here!

The Bootheels, 1988: The Original Demos (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Omnivore has unearthed a clutch of demos and rehearsals from The Bootheels, a short-lived group featuring frontman/songwriter/bassist Luther Russell (Those Pretty Wrongs, The Freewheelers), guitarist Jakob Dylan, guitarist Tobi Miller (The Wallflowers), and drummer Aaron A. Brooks (Lana Del Rey, Moby).  The band, inspired by Big Star, The Replacements, and Elvis Costello, only played two professional gigs (including one at The Troubadour) but these tracks reveal the promise which would manifest itself in its members' future work.  This album collects The Bootheels' only studio work, rather candidly described in Scott Schinder's liner notes as "technically deficient" and "ultimately unusable" for an album.  But viewed through an archival lens, this collection is a fine snapshot of a teenaged L.A. band in the late '80s with the hunger and drive to succeed.  Michael Graves has mastered.  Available on CD, LP, and digitally.

Ringo Starr, Change the World (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Ringo Starr is spreading peace and love with his second consecutive EP following March's Zoom In.  Change the World is titled after the track co-written by Toto's Steve Lukather and Joseph Williams; the other three tracks include a country-flavored collaboration with Linda Perry, the reggae-tinged "Just That Way," and a cover of "Rock Around the Clock" featuring Joe Walsh.  Available on CD, cassette, and digital formats on September 24 while a 10-inch LP follows on November 19.

Chick Corea Akoustic Band, Live (Concord) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The late jazz piano great is celebrated with this new 2-CD release featuring John Patitucci, Dave Weckl, and Gayle Moran Corea on a variety of songs including "On Green Dolphin Street," "That Old Feeling." "In a Sentimental Mood," and "You and the Night and the Music."  Out on CD and digital today, with a vinyl edition following in February 2022.

John Sebastian and Arlen Roth, Explore the Spoonful Songbook (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Lovin' Spoonful co-founder John Sebastian has teamed with guitarist Arlen Roth for a tribute to the Spoonful discography with new arrangements of such favorites as "Daydream," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," "Didn't Want to Have to Do It," and "Darling, Be Home Soon."  Available on CD, vinyl (out October 22), and digital formats.

Various Artists, I'll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground and Nico (Verve) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Verve offers up a contemporary homage to one of the label's most famous albums, The Velvet Underground and Nico, performed by a host of artists including Michael Stipe, Sharon Van Etten, Iggy Pop, Kurt Vile, and Courtney Barnett.  Available on CD, vinyl, and digital formats.

Various Artists, Ben Bagley's Vincent Youmans Revisited / Vernon Duke Revisited (Kritzerland)

Kritzerland has another two titles in its ongoing reissue series from Ben Bagley's Revisited archives.  Vincent Youmans Revisited boasts Cab Calloway, Blossom Dearie, Dorothy Loudon, Charles Rydell, Mary McCarty, and Maureen Stapleton singing lost treasures from the composer of "Tea for Two" and "I Want to Be Happy."  This reissue adds seven tracks from Mary Cleere Haran and Ann Hampton Callaway included on the first CD release.  Vernon Duke Revisited has another terrifically eclectic cast - Blossom Dearie, Anthony Perkins, Gloria DeHaven, Tammy Grimes, Jack Haskell, Rex Reed (!), and Joan Rivers (!!) - performing rarities from the man who composed "April in Paris" and "Autumn in New York."  The sound of both albums has been spruced up for these releases which are due out by the first week of November though pre-orders directly from the label typically ship earlier.  Both titles are limited to just 500 units each.